PRESS RELEASE
Nor Serount Cultural Association
440 W. Colorado Blvd. Suite 201
Glendale, CA 91204
T: 818-502-6580
F: 818-502-6543
Email: [email protected]
Turkish Scholar Keynote Speaker at Armenian Genocide Commemoration Event in Glendale
Rep. Schiff Will Update on US Congress Resolutions
GLENDALE — Increasing number of Turkish scholars believe that
the massacres of Armenians by the Young Turks from 1915 to 1917
were a case of genocide. One of these scholars is Ragip Zarakolu,
the keynote speaker of the commemorative event to be held at the
Glendale Community Church, on Saturday, April 22nd starting at 7:30
p.m. This event is organized by Nor Serount Cultural Association and
Organization of Istanbul Armenians.
Speaker Ragip Zarakolu is the director of Belge International
Publishers, in Istanbul, who for almost 30 years has exhibited
extraordinary courage by publishing books in Turkey that are about
taboo subjects related to the histories of the minority people of
Turkey – the Armenians, Kurds, Greeks.
Zarakolu has long faced harassment for publishing his books. In 1971
a military junta assumed power in Turkey that immediately convicted
and imprisoned him for three years. On his release Zarakolu refused
to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an
â~@~attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become
widespread in Turkeyâ~@~].
The Belge Publishing House, established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu
and his wife Ayse Nur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws
ever since. Charges brought against the couple – at one point there
were over thirty government-brought actions – resulted in imprisonment
for both Nur and Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction
of books and the imposition of heavy fines. In 1995 the Belge
Publishing House offices were firebombed by an extremist rightist
group, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wifeâ~@~Ys
death in 2002, Zarakolu continued to face further prosecutions.
Since November of last year, Zarakolu has been facing new charges of
â~@~insulting and undermining the Stateâ~@~] under Artricle 301 of
the new Penal Code in Turkey. These charges stem from the publication
of two new books about the Armenian Genocide. If convicted, he could
face six-year imprisonment.
Zarakoluâ~@~Ys latest publication is the translation to Turkish
the memoires of Henry Morgenthau, US Ambasaador to Turkey from 1913
to 1916.
Last year, writer Peter Balakian shared his 2005 Rapahel Lemkin prize
from the Institute for the Study of Genocide with Zarakolu.
US House Representative Adam Schiff will be updating on pending
Armenian Genocide resolutions in the Congress (H. Con. Res. 195 and
H. Res. 316). Both these resolutions, for the first time in five
years, were passed by the House International Relations Committee
with overwhelming majority clearing the way for a historic vote
on the House Floor The Glendale Community Church is located at 333
E. Colorado Boulevard in Glendale. This event is free of charge and
all are welcome.
For additional information please call Harout DerTavitian (818)
502-3233
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